well i picked up the car today. 86 elan with a v-6 ( but not for long :) ). body has a few small dings but there is no rust so far that i can find. got it from the original owners. the interior needs a cleaning REALLY bad but most of it should be saveable. overall the car is solid so i'm happy. paid $500 for it, prob a little much but for what shiznitty cars i've been finding i don't mind. i'll clean it up soon and see where i stand with it. here's a couple of shots for now...
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/emeraldcoupe/Picture523.jpg)
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/emeraldcoupe/Picture525.jpg)
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/emeraldcoupe/Picture524.jpg)
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/emeraldcoupe/Picture527.jpg)
Congrats and thanks for your pics friend. :rollin:
Nice score :D. Looks like it needs a bit of work but at least it's all there.
it's a good starting point. i'm going to try to start it later today, it should fire up. supposed to have a slipping trans.
wait til i post interior shots, you guys will laugh, it's pretty nasty :rollin:
Body's in great shape. That's a good fixer upper.
Slipping tranny? Does it have the C5? If so, that's a good sign the modulator valve is shot, and/or trash made it past the filter and plugged the pitot. Depends on how long the PO drove it like that, but hopefully the clutches aren't shot. Those old C5's are TOUGH trannies.
Good luck with the ride.
i don't really care if the trans is bad anyway, i'm going to swap a 302/5 speed into it eventually, although it would make it easier to get back into the driveway if it worked instead of pushing it.
Looks like a good find, body looks solid.
i can't find ANY rust on the car. besides the carpet and the drivers seat the interior should clean up. tested most of the car systems and everything but the power windows work, you can hear the motors grinding. i'm pretty happy overall with the car. now to figure out what to do with the mustang........
Window motors/drive pawls are actually pretty easy.
Can get the pawls for about $6.
Remove door panels. Find dimples in door panel near rivets holding regulator. Drill to 1/4", then to 1/2" hole. Remove three self tapping screws holding motor/gear to regulator. IIRC, the heads on those are 5/16 hex. Could be 3/8, though. Use a 6" extension on a 1/4" drive ratchet, and it's plenty long. Unplug motor and remove from door. Remove Phillips head screw from steel plate with rubber seal on gear box. Remove main gear. Clean all fragments from crushed pawls and old grease out of housing. Clean gear with solvent of your choice. Inspect for damage. Reassemble using new pawls and fresh grease.
Just be extra careful removing those door panels. The plastic brackets will probably be brittle, and the last thing you need is a floppy arm rest if they break off. The arm rest cushion will pop off to give access to one of the screws. Don't forget that one, or you will certainly break one of the plastic brackets. There are 4 or 5 screws along the bottom edge of the door probably hidden by the carpeted panel. Remove the mirror mount cover (one screw) too to keep from breaking it when you slide the door panel up. It may not hurt to pick up a few replacement snaps when you get the window drive pawls too. These usually get chewed up pretty badly pulling them out. Advance Auto has those, and the pawls. I recommend a proper interior panel spoon if you can get one, otherwise, whatever you pry on the snaps with, make sure to get VERY close to the snap, if not under it. Otherwise, they'll pull through the door panel.
Good luck with it.
Don't forget the little circlip on the shaft part if the gear
Check for buildup/rusting under the rear windshield trim pieces.
Thought mine was rust free until i removed the trim from the rear window. :punchballs:
Water and crud pool and pile up under the trim and have nowhere to drain.
Then the lil' clips that hold the trim down start to rot and start rusting like crazy, And it spreads from there. :mad:
Great find! Looks to be in decent shape! I love to see a Thunderbird or Cougar saved from the big shredder of death. I do believe we have the same enthusiasm for these vehicles just like people do for the classic 1949 Fords as well as many other classic vehicles much older because these Fox CatBirds have such a great design that is timeless. The time has come that these cars are being preserved in the same great way.
So far the rust issues I have discovered on mine are the bottom of the door seams which looks to be not too severe. Then there was the issue of all the unpainted mental and brackets inside the car forming a coating of surface rust which I remedied with an interior teardown and painted with black Rustolium. I have a right front fender with severe rust on the bottom edge ahead of the wheel opeing. There is a couple of places where the header panel meets the fenders where the paint flaked off that need attention. I have not removed the rear window molding yet to se if there is issues there. I had a quick look under the car and there is surface rust developing in places but far from preforation. It all just needs a little TLC to prevent it from getting worse. I am not sure what else I may find. I am not quite at the stage of preparing the body for refinishing but I don't believe overall it will be too bad.
already did, no rust. it's been a florida car all it's life.
this is my 4th bird (1 85 and 3 86's)
guess i spoke to soon. took the batt tray out today and there is a good bit of rust there, bad enough that i'm going to replace the inner fender apr0n :mad: . oh well, almost rust free :)
you battery acid! it's not as bad as it looks,( well maybe it is ) about 5 in of framerail needs repair and part of the apr0n. guess it's time to get the welder out.
(http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g89/emeraldcoupe/Picture535.jpg)